Macy Moore, the owner of HopFusion Ale House in Fort Worth, was set to hold a plethora of events for the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw in December.
However, after making a Facebook post promoting the events, Moore was notified by Meta that his business account on the platform was banned from posting — nearly five months after the initial post. Moore said the Meta notification detailed that FIFA reported his post for trademark infringement because of his use of the hashtag #WorldCup.
“I was unable to post for a month,” Moore said.
Due to the length of the guidelines and a typical small business owner's busy schedule, many of these owners aren’t even aware of the restrictions, said Britton Merritt, the vice president of marketing and communications for Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Strict marketing guidelines were released by FIFA in 2024, listing what businesses can and cannot do when marketing themselves during the World Cup.
FIFA has trademarked the use of WorldCup, with the two words run together, along with the following words:
- FIFA World Cup 26.
- FIFA World Cup.
- Copa Mundial de la FIFA 26.
- Copa Mundial de la FIFA.
- Coupe du Monde de la FIFA 26.
- Coupe du Monde de la FIFA.
- World Cup 26.
- World Cup.
- FIFA.
- COPA MUNDIAL.
- COUPE DU MUNDIAL.
- MUNDIAL.
Moore shared that general trademark guidelines were something he was aware of because of past events he had hosted for the Super Bowl, but hadn’t thought twice about it when it came to the World Cup.
“(FIFA) is such a big thing that it almost feels like it's part of the zeitgeist, that you can just talk about it and use it, but it's not. They have trademarks.” Merritt said. “As much as it's part of our everyday lives, they are still a company, they are still a brand, and they have all the power that comes with that.”
FIFA has also trademarked the use of images such as:
- The FIFA Official Trophy.
- The FIFA corporate mark, plus mark, word mark, and typeface.
- The FIFA official emblem.
- The FIFA official slogan “We are 26” and “Somos 26.”
- The host city logos with and without the slogan attached.
- The host city slogans such as “We are Dallas” and “We are Miami.”
- The official FIFA World Cup mascot.
- The official FIFA World Cup Poster.
Businesses cannot use any of these images for commercial benefit, according to the FIFA marketing guidelines.
The biggest choice that can get businesses in hot water with FIFA is the use of any World Cup or FIFA hashtags, Merritt said. FIFA marketing guidelines state that even using a hashtag that mentions FIFA or World Cup puts a business at risk of copyright infringement by the international soccer organization.
Businesses cannot include official FIFA hashtags with trademarked words. This includes:
- Posts of business merchandise with the use of trademarked hashtags.
- Posts of clients with business merchandise with trademarked hashtags.
- Posts of business logos along with FIFA trademarks with trademarked hashtags.
Fans are allowed to post with hashtags, as long as they are not promoting a brand or business alongside it, according to the FIFA marketing guidelines.
“My note to anybody in small business would be, ‘Don't shoot, and just hope something sticks,’” Merritt added. “The last thing any small business needs is their social media channels locked up for 30 days.”
Merritt believes the use of hashtags will make it easier for FIFA to track when their trademark is being used and put businesses at risk, similar to what happened with HopFusion.
Instead, Merritt is encouraging businesses across Tarrant County to use city branding, such as Arlington’s “Arlington Welcomes the World” branding or Fort Worth’s “Howdy Fort Worth,” which she said has been preapproved by FIFA.
Businesses can use words such as:
- Soccer.
- Soccer game.
- The big game.
- General country names or national flags (i.e Canada, USA, Mexico).
- Cup.
- Any other generic soccer terms (i.e kick, kick off, fútbol).
Though the only social media that was restricted for HopFusion was its Facebook account, Moore said the time it was restricted was around the same time he had been hosting the majority of HopFusion’s events.
“I'm not a big fan of social media myself, but like it or not, it's one of the major vehicles that we have of being able to get our word out,” Moore said. “If you're not talking on social media, you don't exist.
Moore hopes sharing his experience will help educate small business owners on the strict guidelines. As for marketing throughout the event, Moore joked that he will stay away from using the words “World Cup” even in his everyday conversation.
“I edit myself talking in real time. (Customers) say, 'Hey, you're gonna show the World Cup?’ and I just shiver,” Moore said. “I say, ‘You mean summer of soccer?’”
Bianca Rodriguez-Mora is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at bianca@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Arlington Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
